Saturday 12th August 2000
Dak the Hamster reports on the sensational hamster musical group


Following the surprise disbandment of 'Rancid Moggy' last week, announced in all the good music magazines across the country, there comes the press release that those most famous of rodent vocalists, the Squeakers, are to reform for a series of nationwide performances that will take in all the civilised areas of America - and parts of Alaska, too.

Although originally a close-knit three-part harmony outfit, in recent weeks reports have been circulating that the band has been rehearsing with the world-renowned session musician Ham Halen on guitar in a sincere attempt to rearrange most of their all-time classics such as 'Rats in White Satin' which shot to the Melody Maker top 100 list of all-time classics and, what was to receive even greater acclaim from the pages of 'Q', 'Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hamsters Band', an exploration of musical composition in the face of involvement with tea-drinking which drew initially critical condemnation from certain sections of the world press.

'Ham Halen' lead singer Gobb Beltup told us 'has added a musical complexity that has inspired us to rethink our position on many of our previous releases. We were initially a bluegrass foursome who went under the name of "Acoustic Rodents" (we're touring under that name this time, too) before reforming about ten years ago when Mandy left to give birth and achieving fame through successive charted albums and singles'

And you're hitting the road again to relive good times and to bring pleasure to your fans?

'Er...no' Gobb answered 'Actually, we're skint. Our owners ran into serious financial difficulties a few months ago and we hit on this plan of being able to support them into new forms of employment by hitting the road again for a few months. We've already sold out Madison Square Garden for three nights in August and we may have to extend our time there to accommodate all the ticket sales'

You mean the Madison Square Garden?

'Not exactly. Not when you put it like that' Gobb shuffled in his seat uneasily and looked sheepishly around the room 'We're playing in conjunction with the next title fight there. We'll be playing underneath the stage while the bout goes on and we anticipate the boxers will provide the percussion sounds that we so desperately need. Of course, we'll have to limit each song to just three minutes, but this is a discipline which should help us focus our attention on cutting out the dead wood from the songs and playing just the easy bits. It should be very arty'

I hear you're doing a rendition of the 1812 overture. Is that right?

'Yes, we hope to - just the loud bit at the end. After all, there's not much you can get into a hundred and eighty seconds with a guitar, banjo and an accordion. We've had to introduce a lyric harmony as well to supplement the music where Tchaikovsky messed up. But that seems to be working out well and we're looking forward to it'

Since the Squeakers last toured there's been a great change in the style and direction of modern day music. From increasing emphasis on synthesized music followed by a return to bands which actually had some expertise on musical instruments and from songs which repeated one phrase hundreds of times to...er...well, that hasn't changed - the Squeakers are caught somewhat in a culture that shouldn't be over-friendly to their style and arrangements.

'Quite the contrary' Gobb told me 'The vast majority of people who appreciate good music are drawn towards our dexterity in performing the classics. Admittedly, once they've been drawn towards us and heard us, they tend not to buy any more of our albums, but, initially, we pull many of those who sit on the edge of popular musical styles'

The band can be contacted through the normal channels and, as this goes to print, we understand that a fourth concert at Madison Square Garden has been arranged. Tickets will go on sale next weekend.

Dak the Hamster writes for the Rodent Weekly.
This article appears courtesy of that paper.



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